It has already been 12 years since I had cheekbone surgery. In August 2011, after passing the civil service exam, I had cheekbone surgery through an intraoral incision to live a more impressive life. But I never imagined that it would turn my life into hell.
For 2 years after the surgery, I had really good days, to the point where I thought my life could actually have days like this. I got attention wherever I went, and it felt good. Exactly from the 3rd year, I could see the beginning of the downfall. The first sign was sagging cheeks. As the flesh on both sides of my lower jaw area started to droop, I started looking older than my peers. Still, up until then, it was bearable. It wasn’t severe. But what’s really scary about this is that it gets worse as time goes on. When other people aged 1 year, it felt like I aged 2 years. But once you pass your 30s, it doesn’t even feel like 2 years, it feels like aging 3-4 years at a time. And at first, sagging cheeks are the start, then because there are no cheekbones, hollowing under the eyes starts, and because of the under-eye hollowing, the dark circles get insanely darker too. From this point, it started becoming unmanageable. Probably from then on, I think real severe depression, suicidal thoughts, social avoidance, sensitivity, and other mental illness symptoms started. I think I tried everything I could do except surgery. But it didn’t work. And from then on, I think I gave up on my face and just lived without looking at my face. Because I had to go to work and had to live. And as more time passes from there, tear trough lines and nasolabial folds become ridiculously severe. Honestly, these symptoms came from the 3rd year, but should I say they get even more severe. It looks as if some part of the face is severely pressed in. So to compensate for this, I think I gained about 5 kg and covered the wrinkles. And as more time passes, the facial tone gets darker. It’s not jaundice like someone with a bad liver, it just darkens. And because the incision was made beside the ear, the nerves beside the ear were touched, so otitis media or ear pain occurs occasionally. But in my case, I didn’t have much of this right after surgery, and the symptoms appeared over time. When I searched online, these are symptoms that appear after intraoral-incision cheekbone surgery, and I think they appeared gradually for me. And if I mention other symptoms, speech problems are the most stressful these days, ear fullness, dents, clumping in the front cheeks; I really think I was a whole general hospital of side effects. Over the past 12 years, exactly 2 years were good, and 10 years were a continuous chain of pain. What’s really scary about this is that once you adapt to one side effect, a new side effect is waiting for you again. I feel like I’ve almost endured all of it now. But what’s scarier now is that since I’m approaching 40, I think there will definitely be other side effects from the combination of aging and cheekbone surgery side effects. The reviews posted here are all from 1-2 years later, or if skin elasticity is good, reviews saying the condition is good up to years 3-4, but usually side effects start within 2 years, leading to lifting, Ultherapy, and all kinds of laser treatments, and at the end, it finishes with the facelift route, but facelifts also have an unbelievable number of side effects. And if you go through the laser and facelift route mentioned above, you spend tens of millions of won. And it’s not a fundamental surgery either. So I didn’t take that route and waited 10 years, thinking I would try a fundamental surgery when medical technology improved. Even now, my thought that I won’t have facelift surgery is clear. However, these days I am thinking about whether I should try reconstructive surgery. I think restoring the bone in the area where there should be bone supporting the cheekbone is the only way to resolve the fundamental cause. I never thought that a surgery I had when I was really young and didn’t know anything would make my life this hard. Please really don’t touch your bones. That’s my 10-year review. And if anyone knows a university hospital and professor who are good at facial contouring reconstruction surgery, please let me know. Bow. And if there are people who have had reconstructive surgery, please send me a private message.